Various devices have been used to arrest the motion of a body. Among those devices have been nets and elastic cords. A difficulty with these is that the elasticity of the cords or net causes a significant rebound which can be damaging to the object. This occurs because as the elastic member elongates it stores large amounts of the energy of the moving body. After elongation, the member rapidly contracts releasing the stored energy and reimparting it to the object. To overcome this problem metal cables have been used in place of elastic materials. The energy of the object is absorbed by the cable causing the cable to elongate. Unlike an elastic cord, the cable is permanently deformed so there is no rebound shock to the object. Annealed cables have been used to increase the elongation potential of the cable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,838 to Peterson et al discloses such a cable. A difficulty with annealed cables is that they must be handled with great care. Any chafing of the cable, especially during elongation, can cause the cable to fail before reaching its expected length.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to increase the reliability of an annealed cable arresting line by protecting such a line from chafing.
Another object of the present invention is to improve an arresting line by providing a failsafe protection in case the line fails.
These and other objects of the present invention together with the advantages attendant therewith will be readily apparent when the specification is taken in conjunction with the attached drawings to which it relates.